Book Review – The Boy Who Sneaks In My Bedroom Window by Kristy Moseley

** Please note that this book is a reader favorite. My review is honest but most people that I’ve talked to simply flat-out love it. I did love many parts but just had a few issues too. Here are my thoughts…

My goodness I felt torn about how to rate this book. There were literally times where I was grinning, and awww-ing and proclaiming my whole-hearted love for the book… but then, there were times where I’d cringe, roll my eyes or want to throttle the characters. I kept going back and forth between 2.5 and 4.5 stars. It was a tough call because the good parts were reeeeally heart-meltingly good but the inconsistencies and some parts of the writing kind of brought it down for me.

This book has a fair bit of flaws (moments of stilted dialogue, a LOT of out-of-character, unrealistic and nonsensical actions from the heroine, some not-so-great writing, and plain flat-out stupidity), but the thing is, if you can (and I mostly did) overlook those flaws, and remember that this is purely a work of fiction, its actually a very adorable, at times hot, and definitely aww-worthy romance about a girl who came for an abusive home and a boy who has loved her since she was a little kid, has been her protector ever since then, and is willing to do just about anything to make her happy, comfortable, feel safe, and loved.. Its all very swoony and sweet underneath the flaws.

8-year-old Amber lives with her mother and older brother Jake in constant fear of the verbal, physical, emotional (and in Amber’s case, sexual) abuse inflicted on them by their father. No kid should ever have to lock their bedroom door at night just to feel safe. But every night, once her door is locked and no one can hurt her anymore, her brother’s best friend Liam (10 years old), sneaks into her bedroom window and just holds her as she cries, comforts her when she feels unsafe, and by secretly staying with her through every night, helps her to push back the pain. So, so sweet of him! *sniff*

“…he was wearing his pajamas … “I saw you through the window. I just wanted to come and make sure you were alright, he whispered… I’m not leaving until you stop crying,”…He had his arms wrapped around me so tightly that I couldn’t even squirm away. I felt safe and warm. I scooted closer to him… and sobbed into his chest. “

Cut to 8 years later, Liam is still sneaking in through her window and staying the night with her (awwwww, right??) and he has almost every night since they were kids. His presence is the only thing that keeps her nightmares away. Jake, the older brother and Liam’s best friend, is seriously protective of her too. His willingness to do absolutely everything to protect his sister and to keep her physically and emotionally away from anything that could hurt her was really gorgeous.

But Amber can’t figure Liam out. He’s an annoying and lovable jerk by day, and the sweetest guy ever by night. He’s also your typical man-whore – plenty of girls, no girlfriends, no meaningful connections. He has always really only had eyes for Amber.

“Night Liam was considerate, loving and thoughtful. Day Liam was a flirt, slut and a jerk. However, both night and day Liams made me feel safe and protected.”

I was a little frustrated with how long it took Amber to clue into Liam’s feelings for her, but at the same time, it was really sweet to watch her come into the realization that the guy who’d been sharing her bed since they were kids is also crazy about her.

I have to say that I LOVED Liam!! Seriously, he made the book for me. He was utterly, perfectly sweet, swoony, hot and thoughtful. The guy literally had no flaws other than his man-whoring past (which he completely stopped once they got together). He has always seen himself as her protector and is always watching out for her. Whats more, he knows what she’s been though and although he’s completely in love with her and wants more, he never ever pushed her outside of her comfort zone and just settled for being protective and caring for her, willing to just be whatever she needed from him.

Once Amber started to realize that she has feelings for him, the adorable hotness begins as they start going out… Its really hard not to love a guy who is always telling his girl how beautiful he thinks she is, who will check the bathrooms and closets for undead after a scary zombie movie, and who can’t fall asleep without being wrapped around his girl. I went though many “awwww, he’s just so freaking sweet” moments that made my heart squeeze 🙂

And I loved how Liam was the only person who could help her through her pain, who understood her deep down, who knew what she needed, who made her feel safe – it was really cute. He totally let her set the pace of the relationship, was endlessly patient, never pushing her or rushing her, but yet always letting her know he was there for her and ready to go wherever she was comfortable going. And once they started going, he pulled out all the swoony stops.

“Liam, what do you want from me?” I asked quietly…
He put his finger under my chin and lifted my face so I had to look up at him. “Everything,” he said simply.

But I also felt it was all a little too ‘romance book perfect’. The story basically had a lot of the elements that make romance books swoony, but I felt like (at times) they were a bit crudely put together – not all the pieces fit and sometimes it just made the whole thing feel off-kilter at times. Also, there were times when the characters felt much older than they were. But if you could overlook that and a few other things, the book was really cute.

This book touches on themes of abuse and teen pregnancy, and is set again a high school background, however the focus of the story is the romance. There is a really adorable epilogue and there’s no cheating or separation in the book. Once Amber and Liam get together, they are both completely crazy about each other with no deviations. “My girl.” He kissed me again. “The only one I want.” However, despite a lot of steamy buildup, teasing, flirting, making out etc, the actual bedroom scenes are fade-to-black. Its YA, but its hot YA 😛

I don’t think there will be a second book unless it has yet to be announced because there is no info anywhere on this being part of a series… however, the author has another book out (which I haven’t read) that is rating pretty highly called Always You http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14288391-always-you that you might want to check out 🙂

I just started this book an I really want to read it but I am a little annoyed with the character depth. I don’t see an 8 year old little girl talking about a 10 year olds eyes being a window into his soul. I know it’s a book and not real life and you have some very smart kids but, I think this writing style is too grown up for a 8 year old. If she was 14 then the story started out like that then I wouldn’t have a problem. Anyway I hope I enjoy the rest if the story

Yeah, I hear you … I had issues with that part of the story – I mentioned it under “moments of stilted dialogue, a LOT of out-of-character, unrealistic and nonsensical actions from the heroine, some not-so-great writing, and plain flat-out stupidity” in the review… its kind of something you HAVE to look past if you’re going to enjoy the book. Still, it was a major contributor to what brought my overall rating down.